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Whether you’re celebrating your Italian heritage or simply love the idea of an all-seafood Christmas Eve dinner, our menu for six offers a well-balanced lineup of appetizers, pasta, and main courses featuring mussels, clams, shrimp, squid, scallops, cod, and scungilli (whelk).
An Italian-American Feast for Christmas Eve
Hosting a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner might sound like a marathon in the kitchen, but with the right recipes and a little planning, you can serve a truly memorable meal with minimal stress.
The dishes on our menu are the ones we make every year on Christmas Eve. They’re inspired in large part by our time in Rhode Island, where we came to love the Italian-American flavors and food traditions that make the state such a culinary gem.
Scroll on to see the dishes, and don’t miss the make-ahead guide that follows.
Antipasti – Light Seafood Appetizers
MUSSELS, CLAMS & SCUNGILLI
Steamed Mussels Italian-Style
Served with toasted slices of crusty bread to mop up all the delicious juices, these Italian-style mussels are steamed in a garlic and white wine broth.
Clams Casino
A classic in Italian-American cuisine, clams casino are a tasty, one-bite starter made with tender littleneck clams topped with a savory mix of bacon, shallot, and red bell pepper.
Scungilli Salad (Snail Salad)
Also known as snail salad, scungilli salad is a New England favorite we grew to love from our time in Rhode Island. It’s a bold flavored dish made with sliced scungilli, celery, onion, parsley, and a garlicky vinaigrette.
Primi – Simple Seafood Pastas
SCALLOPS & CALAMARI
Scallop Pasta with Sicilian Citrus Sauce
This light scallop pasta features a light and delicious Sicilian-style citrus sauce made with orange zest, fresh rosemary, and thyme. The flavor profile is subtly sweet, and makes a nice contrast to the other dishes on our menu.
Calamari Pasta with Homemade Marinara
This simple pasta dish is a favorite of both seafood lovers and fans of classic Italian cuisine. Made with tender calamari, fresh linguine, and homemade marinara sauce, it’s a light, flavorful addition to our menu.
Secondi – Oven-Baked Seafood Entrées
COD & SHRIMP
Baked Cod with Crispy Crumb Topping
This moist and flaky oven baked cod recipe is a regular in our weeknight dinner rotation, but it’s so delicious and easy to make ahead of time, we save it a spot on our Seven Fishes menu every year.
Baked Stuffed Shrimp
This elegant but simple baked stuffed shrimp is a New England favorite that’s been part of our Christmas Eve menu for years. Butterflied colossal shrimp are topped with a buttery mix of breadcrumbs, lemon, white wine, and garlic to make an easy, crowd-pleasing dish you can prep ahead.
A Brief History of the Feast
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a beloved Italian-American tradition centered around a multi-course seafood meal on Christmas Eve. Its roots trace back to Southern Italy, where it’s customary to forgo meat on La Vigilia. While the number seven isn’t fixed, it’s often said to represent the sacraments or the days of creation. Italian immigrants brought the tradition to the U.S., where it became a festive, family-style celebration.
Do you need seven different dishes?
Not necessarily. Some families serve five, others twelve. We like the balance and variety of seven, but if you want to simplify, choose one dish from each course and scale up the servings.
For an even easier option, try our Linguine ai Frutti di Mare, a pasta dish that combines shrimp, scallops, squid, fish, mussels, and clams all in one bowl. Pair it with a light starter like our Scungilli Salad, and you’ve got your own version of the Feast with a fraction of the work.
Feast of the Seven Fishes Make-Ahead Guide
Seafood is best when cooked last minute, but each of these recipes includes make-ahead steps that will help lighten your load on Christmas Eve. From shared ingredients to smart timing, this guide will help you organize your Feast of the Seven Fishes menu.
STEAMED MUSSELS ITALIAN-STYLE
Prep garlic, onion, and tomatoes 1 day ahead. Mussels should be scrubbed and debearded just before cooking.
CLAMS CASINO
Cook bacon and sauté peppers and shallots 1 day ahead. Assemble clams early the day of and refrigerate until ready to bake.
SCUNGILLI SALAD
Entire salad can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temp 30 mins before serving.
SICILIAN CITRUS SCALLOP PASTA
Zest citrus, juice lemon and orange, and prep fresh herbs 1 day ahead. Sauce and scallops cook in minutes.
CALAMARI PASTA WITH MARINARA
Marinara can be made 1–2 days ahead. Squid can be cleaned early the day of and refrigerated until ready to cook.
BAKED COD WITH CRUMB TOPPING
The topping can be made and the dish assembled (without baking) 1 day ahead. Bake just before serving.
BAKED STUFFED SHRIMP
Stuffing can be made 1 day ahead (along with the cod). Shrimp can be assembled early in the day and baked just before dinner.
A Sweet Finish, Italian Style
While the spotlight of this meal is on the seafood, no Italian Christmas Eve dinner is complete without a few sweet treats to enjoy.
Keep it light with an assortment of Italian cookies. Lemony Ricotta Cookies, or Buttery Orange and Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti are easy, festive finishes that can made well in advance. Serve with espresso or cappuccino.
Hi Lynne,
Your recipes are amazing. I have a quick question regarding the Scungilli Salad. If I use canned Scungilli (La Monica) I do not have to cook it, correct?
Happy and healthy holidays to you and your family.
Thanks,
Gina
Hi Gina,
Thank you so much for the kind words. To answer your question, I’ve used LaMonica’s canned scungilli a number of times and have always found it to be a quality product. The scungilli is fully cooked, nice and tender, and easy to work with. Just drain it well and proceed with the recipe. Happy Holidays to you as well.